Electrocomponents plc
(LSE:ECM), the world’s leading high service distributor of electronics
and maintenance products such as Pneumatics
and Hydraulics products, has received a ‘highly commended’ accolade
in the UK IT Industry Awards for Data Centre Project of the Year in the
Project Excellence category.

In addition, SAP awarded Electrocomponents the UK & Ireland ‘Bronze’
Quality award in the large implementation category for the company’s SAP
upgrade in Europe.

The two projects formed part of an ambitious larger programme that saw
Electrocomponents upgrade its European SAP Platform to the latest
version in March of this year, and was developed and delivered in 10
months with minimal end user disruption. This innovative project was the
first in the UK to utilise SAPs Near Zero Downtime (NZDT) and Upgrade
Factory, with great success. The upgrade has increased user satisfaction
within Electrocomponents and laid the foundations for the roll-out of
SAP into Asia Pacific, with the first market going live on December 3,
providing the platform for continued eCommerce growth and international
expansion.

Alongside the SAP upgrade, Electrocomponents transitioned data centres
from London to Scotland, moving away from the standard CAPEX investment
model to a utility pay-as-you-go service, delivering savings of £2.3m
per annum.

Phil Cook, Global IT Director, Electrocomponents, comments: “We are
thrilled to have received two awards; these are testament to the immense
commitment of our staff who worked tirelessly on the projects as well as
the great support we had from our partners, SAP and Atos. We have now
laid the foundations for the roll-out of SAP into Asia Pacific with the
first markets due to go live on December 3. This robust platform will
support our ambitious business goals, enabling the continued
transformation of our customers’ online experience and to deliver our
industry-leading offer to new markets across the world.”

Commenting on the UK IT Industry Awards, David Clarke, MBE, Group Chief
Executive Officer of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, said: “On
behalf of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, I would like to
congratulate all the winners, those who were highly commended and those
who were finalists. Our Awards celebrate the professionalism and
innovation that exists in the IT profession and demonstrates the extent
to which IT is the enabler in so many businesses in the UK today. To
qualify as a finalist is tremendous - to win one of our prestigious
Awards is a fantastic achievement.”

The BCS & Computing UK IT Industry Awards provide a platform for the
entire profession to celebrate best practice, innovation and excellence.
In total, this year’s Awards featured 23 categories which covered:
project, organisation, technology and individual excellence. The
categories were open to organisations and individuals involved in IT
across the public, not for profit and commercial sectors.

-Ends-

About Electrocomponents plc

Electrocomponents is the world’s leading high service distributor of
electronics and maintenance products. With operations in 32 countries,
we offer more than 550,000 products through the internet, catalogues and
at trade counters to over one million customers, shipping around 44,000
parcels a day. Our products, sourced from 2,500 leading suppliers,
include electronics, automation and control, test and measurement,
electrical and mechanical components.

RS Components and Allied Electronics are the trading brands of
Electrocomponents plc. The Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange
and in the last financial year ended 31 March 2012 had revenues of
£1.27bn.

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